I recently flew on an Air France Airbus A380 to Paris and, for the first time in my flying life, I was awakened (twice) by other passengers who were snoring. Normally, such noises are drowned out by the din/drone of the engines. I also made a video of the landing in Paris and noticed the "extreme" quiet in the cabin (especially noticeable during cabin announcements and the firm landing). Additionally, I saw the A350 flying at the Paris Air Show and noticed how quiet it was. In fact the show announcer called it the "Hushliner". I am assuming that it will be even quieter than the A380 and that makes me wonder, might modern airliners be getting too quiet for those who ride inside them?

Quoting Reggaebird (Thread starter):I saw the A350 flying at the Paris Air Show and noticed how quiet it was. In fact the show announcer called it the "Hushliner". I am assuming that it will be even quieter than the A380 and

Bound to be louder in service once it has a full load. It has two less engines than the A380 so will be quieter.

I read an article years ago about a research project by Boeing on cabin noise. I recall that they stated that with noise cancelling technology they could pretty much drown out all static engine noise in the cabin. But test results showed that passengers on long haul flights got extremely irritated by the mindless chatter and sounds their fellow passengers caused! I think it said that 50DB of cabin engine noise was considered to be a minimum or something.

Martijn

Nothing's worse then flying the same registration twice, except flying it 4 times..

Most of my flying is long haul and I keep the iphone+noisecancelling headphones on all of the flight. Recently I was on a domestic MD88 and oh my, it was incredibly noisy even though I was in the front.

I live in Auburn just south of SEA and a little further south of BFI. Take what I'm about to say with a grain of salt because I am in NO way complaining.......................

When A/C are departing to the south, you can totally tell the difference between say a 320/737 and a MD80. However when the flight path reserves, when I look up and see A/C landing to the north, you can barely tell the difference in any A/C. Except for the BA 744, for some reason they love to announce in a loud way that they are here!!!

Quoting CrimsonNL (Reply 6):But test results showed that passengers on long haul flights got extremely irritated by the mindless chatter and sounds their fellow passengers caused! I think it said that 50DB of cabin engine noise was considered to be a minimum or something.

Take an SPL meter along on a few flights. At cruise, total noise levels will be way, way above 50dB, at least on every commercial aircraft I have flown, irrespective of where seated. There's a lot of room for improvement down to that alleged noise floor of 50dB.

Quoting mandala499 (Reply 2):They are getting quieter to the extent that surrounding ground traffic now sounds very noisy...
But NIMBYs still prefer to hate the airport instead of the motorway/main road behind their houses

You seem to forget that living near an airport posses serious health risks that are not factors when you leave near cars and trains.

Quoting alexinwa (Reply 8):
I live in Auburn just south of SEA and a little further south of BFI. Take what I'm about to say with a grain of salt because I am in NO way complaining.......................

I live in Queen Anne, very close to the canal. I think we are under some approach paths.. in any case, it is very easy to spot planes based on sound--but only if you're really trying. I haven't heard of any noise complaints!

Quoting alexinwa (Reply 8):Except for the BA 744, for some reason they love to announce in a loud way that they are here!!!

The daily BA 744 is my favorite! Always seems to be departing when I'm off work!

The modern 77W is not too quiet, it is still too noisy and cramped. This month did AF380 and KL77W on trip to Europe. KL crew was better, but their 77W in economy sucks. AF crews were poor, but they have a nice aeroplane. Note to AF/KL, give KLM the 380's!!

I have yet to fly on a 748 or 787, but also believe they will be more like the 380.

Quoting TK787 (Reply 7):Most of my flying is long haul and I keep the iphone+noisecancelling headphones on all of the flight. Recently I was on a domestic MD88 and oh my, it was incredibly noisy even though I was in the front.

That's weird, I always thought the MD80/DC9 aircraft were known for being extremely quiet in front of the wings. There is wind noise, but besides that you don't hear the engines at all for the most part.

I don't want to get into yet another Boeing vs Airbus but based on my personal experience, the air-con noise on Boeing, even the latest B777-300ER seems to be more noisier than AIRBUS A340 or A330. Even on A320 vs B737, I can hear the difference in noise. I am pretty certain it is related to the air-con. Perhaps, at cruising mode, the all speed circulation mode of Boeing aircraft tend to be have more noise than the Airbus make. I don't know why, but I can feel that.

Quoting celestar (Reply 20):I don't want to get into yet another Boeing vs Airbus but based on my personal experience, the air-con noise on Boeing, even the latest B777-300ER seems to be more noisier than AIRBUS A340 or A330. Even on A320 vs B737, I can hear the difference in noise. I am pretty certain it is related to the air-con. Perhaps, at cruising mode, the all speed circulation mode of Boeing aircraft tend to be have more noise than the Airbus make. I don't know why, but I can feel that.

On A330/340 and A380 the air conditioning is virtually inaudible during cruise (except at a few spots in the cabin). On A320 family it is not quite like that, the air conditioning has a contribution to cabin noise. What you hear in the cabin, which might sound like air conditioning, is actually the boundary layer noise (outside air flowing along the fuselage skin). That is by far the dominant noise source, while engine noise only contributes in the back of the cabin during cruise (not so during climb, obviously).

I do like the sound of a BR715 starting/running on a 717. I don't know what it is about that engine, but it has some GREAT sounds to it. It definitely won't be classified in my book as a "boring" engine. It may not be extremely loud like it's the JT8D on its DC-9 cousin, but it is, in its own right, a superb engine. That and the RB211-22B engine.

You're Losing The Game!

25 celestar
: Well, can you really share with me why when I sit in a Boeing vs an AIRBUS, for sure, the cabin noise are much quieter on Airbus than Boeing. Do agre

26 LY777
: It is not the 77W which is cramped. It is AF/KL which makes them cramped!

27 HBGDS
: Wasn't there a strange complaint during the early EIS of the A380 with either Simgapore or Emirates that the cabin crew were so bothered by the relati

28 masi1157
: I can't tell you much about Boeing cabin noise. I could tell you for hours and hours about Airbus cabin noise, but I am afraid I am not allowed to. B

29 Farzan
: No way, it's hard to believe you could hear the engines at all up there. My experince is that the only noise you hear in the front of an MD 80 or eve

30 Grisee08
: I second that.. I generally only hear the engines at take-off, but once we pick up speed, all I hear is the whoosh of air up front. I usually choose